Dusk
by glanmire
Summary: Rapunzel was a drop of sunlight that fell to earth. This is another story. This is the story of moonlight.
1. Chapter 1

The beginning was similar, simple.

A drop of moonlight fell from the sky, a drop of ink-like shadow, and it fell to the earth, and on that spot grew a plant. It was a weed, and anything that touched it grew withered and old and died. It was the exact opposite of Rapunzel's flower.

A Queen was hale, hearty, and pregnant. She was adored by all- that is, except Mother Gothel, whom she had banished from her lands a long time ago.

Well Mother Gothel took the black weed - with gloves on, of course- and she boiled it up and made a liquid. She then snuck into Queen's chambers and poured a solitary drop into the water beside Her Majesty's bedside.

The Queen died not a day later, a grey crumbling thing that seemed to be made of dust, skin crumbling away - but not before a baby boy was born. He had long, thick dark hair and grey eyes, like moonlight. On the Queen's dying breath she called him Caelan.

Mother Gothel came back for the boy and she stole him away, and locked him in a tower just like Rapunzel's, and thought he might be of use like the girl was.

But his story was different.

Caelan's father, the King, did not mourn his loss. He seemed to think that Caelan had been a demon baby that had killed the Queen and sucked her life's blood out. The people did not quench the lights in the city on his birthday, in hopes that the lost prince would return. They did not want him back. He wasn't even sure when his birthday was and it wasn't like Mother Gothel was a reliable source of information.

Caelan's hair grew as Rapunzel's did, except his was black like ink and was magical in a different way. It was made of shadows, and so moved of its own accord, lashing out and seething, and had its own power; if he wrapped it around a person and sang, they would age rapidly in front of him until they were only wrinkles coating bones. His hair took their lives and it made him feel alive; it was a power that only he had, and it was the most incredible feeling.

He did not help Mother Gothel to become younger like Rapunzel did. In fact, after visiting him, she would grow older faster, as if even breathing the same air as him was poison. She spent as little time with him as possible, only bringing him food and victims and then was gone again, excuses on her lips.

He sat in the center of the room, with his hair spread out of the floor beside him, his eyes closed, waiting.

A thief pulled himself in the the window, and then leaned back against the wall, panting.

Caelan opened his eyes and lashed out a strand of hair and it formed a dagger. He held it a notch from the thief's heart.

"You move, you die. You speak, you die. Understood?"

The thief nodded. He had brown hair, which was tousled, and green eyes, and looked utterly unperturbed by the situation.

Caelan withdrew the hair an inch.

"I want you to leave whatever it is you have stolen here, and be on your way."

The thief tilted his head.

"Yes yes you can speak now."

"Right, pleased to meet you, I'm Todd. Thing is sunshine, I'm not just gonna-"

Caelan whipped a strand of hair across Todd's arm. It went momentarily grey and withered, and then came back to life, slowly.

"Do not speak to me of sunshine," he said viciously.

"Well I haven't seen that before," Todd said, looking at his arm and sounding almost bored. "So can I go now?"

"No."

"Alright grumpy. What would you have me do?" His eyes flickered over Caelan. "Besides the obvious."

Caelan didn't know what he meant by that. He pressed on.

"I want revenge on my father the King, and I want to destroy his kingdom. I want to kill my captor, Mother Gothel, and also capture that bitch Rapunzel."

"Slow down there sugar, that's a long list. The King is your daddy? So you're the demon baby I've heard so much about?"

"Do I look like a demon to you?"

"Well they told me hell would be hot," Todd said and winked. "Now, who's Mother Gothel?"

"She's the one who killed my real mother and locked me in here. She's raised me as her son all along."

"How did you figure that out then?"

Caelan looked down. "It wasn't difficult."

"Hmm. And if I say no to this little arrangement, you're going to age me to death, huh?"

"Yes."

"Then my friend, you have yourself a deal."

Todd stretched out a tanned hand to shake on it, then thought better of it.

"Man I really am gonna have to keep my hands of you, huh."

Caelan did not know how to respond to that.

"So, I bet you're wondering what I stole?"

"No."

"Well it's a funny story. So I was-"

They walked out of the forest that Caelan had spent his entire life looking , he walked and Todd sauntered, chatting amicably about how he stole some jewels. Caelan was uninterested.

"So buttercup, why do you need my help anyways? Seems like you got it all planned out."

Caelan frowned. He wasn't quite sure himself why he had enlisted Todd's help. The boy had no skills to speak of, although lean and yet muscular, could hardly be counted as a warrior.

"No. I know my aims, but I have no plans, no methods in which to achieve them."

"Alright. Stop right here," and Todd plonked himself on the forest floor and rolled until he was lying on his belly.

"I say we deal with MG first, cause she's geographically closest. Now, what time does she normally come in at?"

"Dusk."

"Fine. Let's go back to the tower and wait for her there, and we'll have her dealt with and out of the way."

They waited. Nightfall devoured dusk before they mentioned it.

"It's probably got to do with the other bitch."

Todd looked at him. "Caelan, that's not a very nice thing to call a lady. I thought that you didn't even know this girl anyway."

Caelan felt momentarily abashed, and then his anger surged at being scolded by a common thief. He wrapped his hair around Todd's wrist and yanked it hard, so that he fell forward. The life began to leech out of Todd, but it wouldn't do any lasting damage, just shave off a couple of years, unless Caelan sang.

"Don't presume to order me again", and he let go, causing Todd to lose balance and fall. Caelan breathed heavily for a few moments, the life coursing through his veins like a drug. Todd stood up and looked at Caelan like he was a petulant child. It was infuriating not to be feared as he rightfully should be.

Todd stared at him, and waited, perhaps for an apology, but pressed on when he realised Caelan wouldn't give it.

"If you've been in here all your life, how do you know so much about," and here Todd pointedly looked at Caelan and said with emphasis, "the girl?"

Caelan explained how he hadn't trusted Gothel for years, nor she him. Any day she could go to climb his hair and he might be purposely singing in the tower, unbeknownst to her, and then she would die. So they had a mutual agreement. She spoke to him honestly about Rapunzel, and brought him vagrants, those who wouldn't be missed, so he could leech off them.

In return he didn't kill her. It wasn't a great deal for her, and she often looked at him with distaste. Caelan knew that she longed to kill him, but didn't know how.

"That's pretty intense," Todd admitted when he was done. "Need a drink?"

"I'm not thirsty."

"I mean alcohol," and he produced a bottle of dark brown liquid with flourish from his bag, "I didn't actually steal any Crown Jewels. That's a bit serious. I just nicked some alcohol 'cause I'm not of age yet."

Caelan regarded the liquid curiously, and cautiously agreed to have one glass. They would murder and wreak havoc in the morning, but he reckoned he deserved to get a little drunk. Just this once.


	2. Chapter 2

They had got more than a little drunk the night before on the stolen alcohol. Hilarity had ensued when they realised Caelan's hair got inebriated too; it flopped and flailed uselessly as the night passed, like a struggling fish.  
They had slept that night on the floor of the tower, curved in crescent shapes, their backs to one another.  
Caelan had found it a little disconcerting, listening to another person breathing beside him. He had briefly entertained the idea of using his own hair as earmuffs, but had passed out in his drunken stupor before acting on it.

He awoke the next day and he felt like bricks were tied to him and were dragging him underwater. Sunlight streamed in the window, only blocked by Todd's lean silhouette. He yawned, and felt indolent.  
"Ah don't be so scared of a little hangover" Todd remarked from where he sat on the windowsill, his hands stretched behind him, looking for all the world like a house cat lapping up the sunlight. "C'mon sleepyhead. I would've left without you already if you weren't so fun last night." He winked, and dropped out the window.  
Caelan did not bother to investigate what had been so hilarious the night before. He was used to Todd's ribald commentary by now. He leapt out the window after the thief, and his hair whipped out ahead of him and softened his fall, Todd still clung onto the side of the tower, inching his way down.

They took their time trekking through the forest. "So buttercup, do we have an updated plan?" Todd asked jocosely, in a manner that suggested if there wasn't a plan, that was alright too.  
"What's the rush? Once we get the bitch-" he paused at Todd's withering look "-Rapunzel, then there'll be no such thing as a wasted hour, if age itself is reversible."  
"So what, we can basically fool around for along as we want, doing whatever we want," and Todd smiled deviously, "and then your sister will just give us the time back again."  
Caelan stopped short. "My sister?"  
Todd looked at him like he was a schlemiel. "Yeah darling, remember Rapunzel? The purpose of our quest? We were just discussing her?"  
Caelan's hair dropped out of the air where strands of it were drifting along and hit the floor with a dull smack.  
"I'm not related to the bitch."  
Todd nodded. "Oh, okay, you didn't figure it out. That's find. I guess I'll be the one to break the news to you." He sat down ungracefully and patted the ground beside him.  
"I'm still not understanding."  
"Right. Well Caelan, thing is that you've got this long, magical hair, and so does she. I don't know genetics, but it seems kinda likely there's some sort of connection there."  
Caelan was flabbergasted for all of three seconds, and then understood.  
"You've got it all messed up Todd. Okay, this sounds a little crazy, but the magical hair is not 'cause I'm a warlock's bastard child or something. I was actually, eh-" and here he felt suddenly, intensely stupid saying the words, "a drop of moonlight that fell to earth."  
"Uh-huh," Todd said, sounding utterly sarcastic.  
"I'm not messing with you. Rapunzel was sunlight, so yeah, we're about as related as a great burning star and what, a lump of rock?"  
"But where did you get this information? Unless- do you remember being, like, moonlight?"  
"No. Mother Gothel explained it to me."  
"Well Caelan, MG has been known to spin more than a few lies in her time, just saying."  
Caelan whomped his hair against the ground. "Look, I'm not her brother, alright?"  
"Fine." Todd dropped it, for all of ten seconds at least.  
"Why so touchy anyway? It wasn't like you were going to kill her-"  
Caelan stayed silent. "Are you serious Moon Boy? You were going to kill a teenage girl? She never even did anything to you!"  
Caelan mumbled. "I'm sorry, could you say that again?" Todd asked, his green eyes flashing.  
"I said I thought it seemed neater." Caelan said, his own voice level.  
"Oh, well that explains it, yeah let's just go on a rampage, kill all the innocents if it looks nicer. Why didn't you say that before?" Todd drew a long breath and ran his fingers through his hair.  
"Look Caelan," he said more calmly, "you can't just murder people all the time. I like you, I really do, but casual disregard for human life is not cool. I mean, sure, I'm all for a revenge plot. I'd love to help you overthrow the king, kill MG, whatever, but innocents are innocents."  
Caelan wasn't unduly moved by Todd's speech- he still wanted to kill Rapunzel- but figured if it meant that much to Todd, then hey, why not let her live.  
"Anyway," Todd pressed on, "she reverses ageing, right? And you make people age. So having her around is great- no one has to die when you do your age-thing."  
Caelan was very tempted to say that he quite liked when people died around him, but decided to bite his tongue.  
They continued walking again, and Caelan had the oddest feeling that he should apologise, but ignored it. He hadn't done anything.

"Will we stop and get a bite here?" Todd asked him a few hours later. They had crossed the border earlier in the morning into Rapunzel's kingdom. It was nearly dusk now, and Caelan was starving. Not so much for food- he had a small appetite- but for life.  
He was seriously considering stealing a year off Todd, just lightly brush a hair along his bare shoulder. Todd wouldn't feel a thing. Caelan's breathing increased at the thought, and he was having a rough time concentrating. Water would do him good. He nodded and they approached the tavern.

The Snuggly Duckling it was called. The place was overrun with guards, who lolled around adorning the walls with posters of somebody called Flynn Ryder, a fugitive with a disproportionately large nose.  
"What did he do?" Todd asked a guard nonchalantly, gesturing to the Wanted Ad.  
"Stole the Crown Jewels along with Stabbington brothers," the guard replied offhandedly and turned back to his buddy.  
"Stabbington? And I thought Caelan was a stupid name," Todd said, almost to himself.  
Caelan didn't notice the insult. The guard had been short with Todd and therefore he could die. He called the guard over, and told him coyly that he had information about the criminals but that he needed to keep it out of the earshot of others. Well now the guard was interested, leaning in close and acting all nice, but it was too damn late for that.  
Caelan led him outside. As they walked away from the Inn the guard asked, "So buddy, what's with the hair? Is it some sort of statement?" He was a cocksure fellow, and fancied himself to be a good fighter. He was wrong. Caelan didn't deign to respond but instead gagged him with his hair easily and then began to suck the years out of the fool.  
He tapped his foot as he sang. It could take a minute or two, but he had time.  
The soldier gave a final sort of croak, which was a very lame last line, and then he died, dust made flesh.

Caelan made his way back to the Inn, and he may have even skipped a little. Wasn't it great? Wasn't life wonderful? He felt better, healthier, alive, truly alive.  
"Todd!" he cried out in merriment. Todd had been chatting amiably to the other guard, and looked up at Caelan oddly.  
"Someone looks a little perkier than usual," he remarked dryly, noting the smile that stretched across Caelan's face.  
Yes, Caelan did feel better. Oh life. It was the best.  
"Let's go wreak havoc, shall we?" he asked, giddy.  
"Never mind my friend here," Todd told the guard with a wink. "He wouldn't dream of disrupting the peace in this beautiful kingdom." He then gestured to the steaming pie in front of him. "Do you want one, Kay?"  
Kay. He'd never had a nickname before. Caelan rolled the sound of it across his mind like a marble. Kay. It was good.  
"No," he managed a moment later. He was too hyped for trivial matters like food. He felt like killing Mother Gothel, and waited impatiently for Todd to finish his pie. Caelan didn't even attempt to join the conversation between Todd and the second guard, who seemed like an unctuous sort of guy, smiling far too much at Todd.  
It never struck Caelan as he waited that he could have left at any moment, Todd or not.

After they ditched the Inn- the guard looking oddly sad to see Todd go- it didn't take them an inordinate amount of time to find Rapunzel's tower, considering how it was meant to be nigh impossible to stumble upon- but then again, Caelan knew exactly what he was looking for.  
"It's empty," Todd said a little unnecessarily, after they poked around in the tower for a while. The walls were adorned with painting, splashes of stars. Rapunzel kept her place clean, Caelan gave her that.  
"Nothing of use here," he agreed. "Where is everyone when you need to get revenge? She's meant to be locked in here for her whole life."

Todd passed a full length mirror and then backtracked.  
"Kay?"  
"What?"  
Silence, which was very out of character for Todd. Caelan looked over at him, worried. Todd was on his knees in front of the mirror, parting his hair.  
"What?" Caelan repeated.  
"I think- holy mother- you and your pernicious hair-"  
"Todd, what's wrong?"  
Todd gestured to his own hair. Some of the roots were tinged with grey.  
"Caelan, no offence love, but could you not age me? I like being seventeen, not seventy."  
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to- I didn't even touch you-"  
Todd looked at him with unmasked pity. "It's not your fault man, I don't think you can control it- it's just your presence, you know? No wonder MG needed Rapunzel to top her up so often."  
He then looked back to the mirror, and began searching for wrinkles, not overly bothered by this new turn of events. "At least I'll be able to buy alcohol now, right?" he added contentedly.  
Caelan still felt ashamed. "I didn't know that would happen Todd," he said, "but thanks for everything."  
Todd looked at him. "Caelan, you may be hot but you're pretty dumb at times. Rapunzel will just fix me when we find her, no big deal, okay? I'm not gonna bail on you, don't worry."  
Caelan nodded and Todd pulled him in for a hug.  
Caelan's hands briefly touched Todd's bare back, and wrinkles rippled out from the spot. The skin turned grey and Todd yelped. "You've got cold hands!"  
He then saw Caelan's face. "What, what is it now?"  
Caelan pointed to the mirror. "Look at your back."  
Todd did, and yelped again. "I was right when I said I'd better keep my hands off you," he noted. "Was that the first time you ever touched a person, like not with your hair?"  
Caelan nodded again. His throat was too tight to speak.  
Todd smiled at him. "Don't worry, we'll find her and it'll all work out. We'll get you a pair of gloves or something too."

They left the tower and were just in the forest nearby when they heard her, Mother Gothel clawing through the undergrowth. She approached the tower, looking haggard, calling for Rapunzel to let down her hair.  
"That's just laziness," Todd commented, and Caelan agreed.  
"So, how do you plan on doing this then Kay?"  
"I'm not sure. Listen, if Rapunzel is missing, then MG is going to want to find her. So why don't we follow MG instead of killing her right now, cause she'll bring us to Rapunzel."  
Todd smiled at Caelan. "Attractive and clever. Atta boy."

They followed MG, where she went right back to the Snuggly Duckling. Caelan kept well back, wary that she might see him, but she was oblivious.  
She talked to some bent old man outside the Inn, and then went inside and didn't come out. Todd and Caelan waited, but after ten minutes there was still no sign of her.  
Todd went first, seeing as she wouldn't know him. He sussed out the Inn and came back to Caelan.  
"Nada, nothing whatsoever. It's like she climbed out a window or something, gone."  
Caelan knew they should have just killed her when they had the chance.  
"What now?"  
Todd shrugged. "Guess we find Rapunzel ourselves."


End file.
